The Anatomy of an Argument: Point, Support, and Sufficiency

Point and Support: The Architecture of Argument

Testing for Relevance

Testing for Adequacy

Read the passage: "Our district should restore daily physical education for all students. Sedentary habits established in adolescence track into adult life, and the American Heart Association links regular activity in youth to lower rates of heart disease later on. The current schedule leaves students with one gym class per week, the lowest frequency in the county. Coaches report that after-school sports participation has fallen by a third since the daily requirement was cut. Funding the restoration would cost less per student than the district currently spends on one standardized test administration. Alumni fundraising campaigns have already covered the cost of new equipment at two of our schools, and the mayor praised the program at last year's community breakfast." Which sentence states the argument's central point?

Read the passage: "The city should convert the abandoned rail yard into a public park. Vacant industrial land drags down nearby property values, and studies from three other cities show park conversions raising surrounding home values by an average of eight percent. The rail yard has stood unused for twenty years, its fences rusting and its tracks overgrown. A park would give the two thousand residents of the adjacent neighborhood their only green space within walking distance. The architecture firm that designed the city's award-winning library has offered to draft the master plan, and the lead architect grew up two blocks from the rail yard." Which piece of support is LEAST relevant to the point?

Read the passage: "Budget blenders are a waste of money, and the entire product line from this manufacturer is unreliable. My neighbor bought one of their blenders last spring, and the motor burned out the first time she tried to crush ice. I read an online review describing the same failure with an identical model, and my coworker's sister returned hers after a week. A premium blender from a boutique brand will outlast five of these units, and the boutique model comes with a polished steel base that looks professional on any counter. The discount aisle is full of these machines now, stacked in bright boxes with pictures of fruit on the side. Smart shoppers should skip the discount aisle entirely and buy the expensive option once." Which statement best identifies the flaw in this argument?

Complete the sentence: "To evaluate the support in an argument, apply two tests: the ____ test asks whether each piece of evidence directly relates to the point, and the adequacy test asks whether the evidence as a whole is sufficient and solid."